Scapegoat
by GataChica
Summary: Kira has a secret, a very painful secret, and she needs the help of her DS9 friends. Set during the 2nd season.
1. Chapter 1

Scapegoat Part 1

Star Trek: DS9 fanfiction

Major Kira Nerys strode purposefully up the steps and into the office of Commander Sisko. When she entered, she saw that he was talking to Admiral Hitchcock via subspace radio, so she waited respectfully until he switched off the communication.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Major. I wanted to talk to you about this leave of absence you requested."

"Do you have a problem with that, Commander?" Her voice was even frostier than normal.

Sisko smiled warmly. "Not at all, Major. In fact, I'm delighted."

"Delighted, sir?"

"Yes. I mean, it's not that I'm glad to see you leave, but you haven't taken any time off since you've been on DS9. You're notorious for overworking." He paused, but she didn't comment. "I was curious as to what prompted you to take leave now, that's all. Are you feeling all right?"

Kira leaned against his desk, gazing at him intently. "Commander, the agreement between Bajor and the Federation specifies that I am entitled to this leave. Isn't that correct?"

"Of course, Major. But -"

"To the best of my knowledge, nowhere in that agreement does it state that I am required to answer personal questions. So, Commander, are you going to approve my leave, or not?"

Her words, and even more, her tone of voice, stung Sisko, but he had learned early on that it was a mistake to adopt a defensive posture with her. He picked up her request, signed and stamped it. "Here, Major. Have a good time."

Kira permitted herself a small smile as she took the card and left the office.

A short time later, she was sipping a synthale at Quark's the uncharacteristic smile still on her face. Quark eyed her suspiciously from behind the bar, apparently debating with himself.

Finally, he began to wipe the counter, moving casually toward her. When he was close enough, he said in a low voice, "All right, Major. Let's have it."

"Have what?" she asked, her voice at a normal volume.

"Shhh!" he hissed, glancing around. Leaning closer, he said, "Tell me what you're smiling about. You must be planning something big – you're not out to get _me_, are you?"

Kira frowned. "Of course not, Quark. And if I were, I certainly wouldn't give you any clues, would I?"

"Who is it, then?" he asked, rubbing his hand together. "Sisko? O'Brien?" He glanced at the figure who had just entered the bar, then chuckled. "I know – it's the doctor, isn't it?"

Kira started to reply, but Quark hurried away as Bashir approached.

"What's the matter with him?" the young doctor asked, taking a seat beside Kira.

"I have no idea," she murmured absently, the smile returning.

Bashir looked at her curiously. "Commander Sisko tells me you're going on leave," he commented.

She turned sharply and the smile disappeared. "He told you that? Why?" she demanded.

He gazed at her, thrown off by her reaction. "I … well … yes, he did. He asked me if you had been having any medical problems, and if you were taking the leave on my advice. I told him no, on both counts."

"I see."

She didn't elaborate, and finally Bashir asked brightly, "So, are you going to visit family or friends? Or just sightseeing?"

She gave him a withering look. "You're very naïve, Doctor, if you think that the Cardassians left anything on Bajor worth seeing. And I don't have any family. They took care of that, too."

She turned away, obviously ending the conversation, but he didn't take the hint. "So all that leaves is visiting friends. Got any big plans?"

Kira drained her drink, then sat looking at him. She looked at him for so long that he began to feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Was I being nosy?" he asked, at last.

She smiled her sweetest, most sarcastic Bajoran smile. "What do you think?" she asked him. Then she strode from the room before he had time to recover.

She found Odo making his usual rounds of the docking pylons. "Constable!" she called, trying to catch up with him.

Odo stopped and turned. "Yes, Major? Can I help you?"

When she reached him she was a bit breathless. "I need a favor."

Kira was one of the few people Odo would actually do a personal favor for, so he didn't cut her off. "I'm listening."

She took a deep breath. "I need to make a burst transmission on a maximum security channel to Bajor."

"This is personal, I assume?"

Kira nodded. "I don't have permission from Sisko, and I can't tell you what it's about. Will you do it anyway?"

Odo appeared to consider, then nodded. "I'm sure you're not going to tell anyone I ddi this."

"Of course not."

"Very well. When do you need it?"

"As soon as possible."

"When I finish my rounds?"

"I'll meet you in your office." They walked off in different directions as if they had never spoken.

The next afternoon Kira was on duty in Ops, pacing like a caged tiger. At regular intervals, she stopped just long enough to see if the station had received any messages from Bajor. Then she began to pace again.

This went on for over an hour, and finally O'Brien had had enough of it. He rose from his station and planted himself directly in her path. "What's wrong, Major?"

"Nothing," she said curtly. Then she muttered to herself, "They should have responded by now." To O'Brien she added, "Chief, I want you to check our comm systems and personally guarantee that they are working properly."

"Aye sir." He knew very well that there was nothing wrong with the comm systems, but maybe if he checked them she would stop her bloody pacing. He started toward the lift.

"Wait, Chief," called Dax. "Major, we're receiving a message from Bajor over one of the scientific data channels."

Kira almost pounced on the science officer. "What does it say?"

"It's coded – just one moment." Her fingers danced over the console. "Decoding complete. The message says 'Dubaiy is gone.'"

Kira sat down abruptly, deflating like a punctured balloon.

"What is it?" asked Dax, concerned. She had never seen Kira so shaken.

"Nothing – nothing," Kira lied, trying to get hold of herself. "I must speak to Odo."

A few moments later, she all but ran into the security office, barely waiting for the door to open. "Odo, I need that secure channel again. And this time it has to be two-way."

"I'm sorry, Major, but that's not possible," he told her coolly.

"Odo!" The frustration was evident in her voice. "This is a matter of life or death – you've got to help me!"

He knew Kira would not say "life or death" unless she meant it. "All right, I'll set up your channel," he agreed reluctantly. "But this time I want to listen – to your side, at least."

Kira nodded. She didn't care what Odo heard because she knew she could trust him. Unconsciously, she began to pace again while he gave the necessary codes to the computer. "Major!" he complained when she passed him for the third time.

"Sorry," she said, forcing her legs to stop moving.

"It's programmed. Same destination?"

"Yes."

"The call is secure – go ahead."

"This is Major Kira Nerys, DS9, calling Tenm Daja. Respond, please."

"Nerys?" came a female voice from the speaker. "Did you get my message?'

"I certainly did, Daja, and I want to know what's going on. _Right__now._"

"We had to register him for school," the other woman explained. Her voice was neutral on the surface, but Odo could detect an undercurrent of fear. "I didn't think there was any danger. Everyone here has accepted him, and we live so far out -"

"Daja, what happened?" Kira demanded impatiently.

"I let him go out to play after our early meal, and when I called him later he had disappeared. None of the other children had seen him all morning. We thought he might have gotten lost in the forest so we searched for several hours, but there was no sign of him. When we returned, there were words scrawled on the side of the house -" The voice broke off.

"Yes? Go on," Kira prompted.

"It said 'Death to Cardassian bastards,' with the symbol of the Arbiters. It looked like blood, Nerys."

"That doesn't mean anything," Kira reassured her friend, brushing aside the fear in her own mind. "Do you think -" She paused to glance at Odo, then set her jaw and continued. "Do you think they know who his real mother is?"

"Well, I had to register him under the name on his birth record, you know. The papers have to be thumb-stamped and there's no way to fake that."

Kira wanted to dump her anger on Daja, wanted to scream at her that she should have known better. She should have kept him out of school entirely rather than make his location known to anyone who had access to the planetary files. But instead she just sighed. "I'll get down there as soon as I can, Daja. DS9 out." She signaled Odo to terminate the connection, turning to look at him cautiously.

He was standing with his arms folded and his unfinished eyebrows raised. "I think you have quite a lot of explaining to do, Major."

She nodded. "I know. But I don't have time for that now. I've got to convince Sisko to let me lead a rescue party – I'll do any necessary explaining then. Come on, Odo."

Sisko was off-duty and out of uniform, so it took a bit longer than usual to track him down. They found him in a holosuite practicing baseball, and he was none too pleased when they walked in uninvited and switched off his program.

"What is it?"

Kira opened her mouth to speak, but Odo was faster. "Serious business, Commander. A child has disappeared on Bajor, probably kidnapped by an extremist group. The child's mother is on staff here at DS9. Therefore, I think it would be appropriate for me and a few others – perhaps Major Kira and Dr. Bashir – to attempt a rescue."

"Someone here on DS9? I thought all the Bajorans brought their children with them."

"Not all of them," Kira put in dryly.

"There's more, sir. This situation is extremely delicate since the child in question is half Cardassian."

Kira turned to Odo, startled. She looked almost frightened.

"I didn't think that was possible. Are you sure -"

"Believe it, Commander," Kira interrupted. "Unfortunately, it is possible."

"Are you sure?" he asked again. "Who is the mother? Do I know her?"

Kira and Odo exchanged glances. She could tell Odo was waiting for her to respond. She took a deep breath and wiped all expression from her face. "You're looking at her. We're talking about my son."

"_Your_ son?" he replied incredulously. "Your personnel file said nothing about -"

"His father was _Cardassian_, Commander. Do you really think I would let something like that get into my personnel files?"

He appeared to consider. "No, I guess not." After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "But how -"

"You want to know how it happened," she interrupted again. "I suppose I might as well tell you. The Cardassians did more than just rape our planet, Commander. When the Shakaar raided Tulaton base, I was captured … the only prisoner at the time, guarded day and night by three lecherous bastards who raped me whenever they damn well felt like it – which was frequently. They thought it was really funny. Just one more way to humiliate a Bajoran." She stared into space as if she could still see them. "One would hold me down, another pointed a phaser at my head. I screamed, but they didn't care about that."

Sisko laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "Don't feel sorry for me, Commander. I don't want your pity. I just want your help. Dubaiy is my son. I don't care who his father was! He needs my help, and I'm going to help him even if it means the end of my career!"

"Easy, Major," Sisko said soothingly. "There's no need to sacrifice your career or anything else. Take whoever you need and go down to Bajor. If there's any other way I can help you, let me know."

She closed her mouth, somewhat mollified. "Thank you, Commander." With a quick gesture to Odo, she left.

Back in the security office, Odo and Kira studied maps of Bajor, discussing the best way to find Dubaiy.

"I just don't know," Kira said finally. "The Arbiters have no registered headquarters, and no one knows where they meet. Most of the leaders move frequently ..."

"Except for this one," Odo commented, pointing to a file. "Milon Kahti, the director of a shelter for the homeless near Glocarra"

"Glocarra? Let me see that." Kira turned the screen towards herself. "Do you know what this shelter is? It's the old Gallitepp mining camp!"

"Interesting," Odo murmured thoughtfully. "Major, tell me about the Arbiters."

"They call themselves the Arbiters of Justice," she began, "because they emphasize the doctrine of racial justice – payment for racial crimes. They believe that if a certain number of Bajorans died during the occupation, then an equal number of Cardassians must die. They have claimed responsibility fo many assassination, bombings, and other attacks. Of course, they haven't been as active since the Cardassians left Bajor."

"I see. Why do you think they are interested in Dubaiy?"

"To begin with, simply because he is half Cardassian. Even more moderate factions would say he doesn't belong on Bajor for that reason. Then, too, the Arbiters would see him as a scapegoat. His death would be exchanged, in their eyes, for the deaths of Bajoran children."

"So you believe they will kill him?"

Her face was impassive. "Probably, but not right away. That's not the way the Cardassians did it."

"They will torture him first?" Odo tried to say it gently, but he knew he wasn't very good at projecting emotions.

Kira nodded, her dark eyes as empty as the space between the galaxies. She turned away for a moment, and Odo did not interrupt her thoughts.

Finally she asked, "Do you think Milon is hiding him in the shelter?"

"The psychology works," he told her. "After all, isn't Gallitepp the place where the Cardassians committed the worst atrocities? What better place to exact retribution for those crimes?"

"Yes, that's the way the Arbiters would think. I'm sure we're right. Have Bashir meet us at Pad C; we'll talk strategy on the way down."

Bashir was full of questions as they prepared for departure. "I know this is some sort of rescue mission, but why am I coming along? Who are we going to rescue?"

Odo explained while Kira ignored them both, particularly when Bashir began to shoot curious glances her way.

"Doctor, you will enter the shelter to inspect their medical facilities," Odo said. "Here is your authorization from the provisional government." He handed Bashir a medical ID card, and the doctor looked at the shapeshifter with renewed admiration.

"Very impressive," he murmured.

Odo inclined his head to acknowledge the compliment. "I will be concealed in your kit in my liquid state. During your inspection, you will find it necessary to visit the washroom. While there, you will -"

"Pour Odo down the drain," finished Kira, with a hint of a smile.

"Precisely," agreed Odo. "I will then locate Dubaiy, exit the plumbing system, and signal Major Kira to beam us to the runabout."

"How will I get out?" asked Bashir.

Before Odo could answer, Kira said, "Wait a minute – you expect me to stay on the runabout? You're out of your mind, Constable."

Odo shook his head. "Think, Major. If you go into that shelter, Milon will realize immediately that we know where Dubaiy is, and there won't be time to beam him out."

"She might think it a coincidence," Kira argued.

"I doubt that. She certainly would be suspicious enough to post extra guards."

Kira considered his point, then nodded reluctantly. "Very well."


	2. Chapter 2

Scapegoat Part 2

Kira paced the length of the runabout, waiting for Odo's signal. It seemed that waiting was all she had done for the past few days. She was sick to death of waiting, for patience had never come easily to her impulsive nature. She would have preferred to storm the shelter, shoot Milon and all the other so-called Arbiters of Justice, and rescue her son in a blaze of glory.

That was her emotional response. The rational part of her knew that Odo's plan was better, but she still held the urge for violence in reserve, in the back of her mind. Just in case.

She stared at the communication board, willing it to come to life. As she watched, an indicator turned green.

"Odo to Kira!" Odo's voice rang out. "I've got him."

She moved swiftly to the transporter panel. "Ready to beam you -"

"Stand by!" he interrupted, sounding irritated.

"What is it, Odo? What's happening?"

There was no response. Kira glanced around for the remote transporter link, then beamed herself to Odo's coordinates, her phaser ready.

Kira materialized in the middle of a fight, and her practiced gaze instantly analyzed the situation. Odo was struggling with two Bajorans, while in the corner crouched a young woman with curly blond hair. In her lap lay a small child; his eyes were closed but Kira could not tell whether he was asleep or unconscious.

She drew her phaser and prepared to fire on the guards, but a glint of light caught her eye. She glanced back to see Milon holding a knife blade against Dubaiy's throat, a small smile on her face. The implication was obvious.

In the back of her mind, Kira noticed that Odo had disabled one of the men and was working on the other, but she was too concerned with her son's safety to pay much attention. She had no doubt that Milon intended to use the knife – the Arbiters' malicious desire for vengeance was quite evident in her eyes. Kira lowered the phaser to put it away, sighing in resignation, then turned quickly and fired on Milon.

It was a calculated risk, and fortunately it was a risk that proved successful. The knife clattered to the floor, and Kira caught Dubaiy as he slid from Milon's grasp. She held him close, painfully conscious of the tears running down her cheeks. She tried to wipe them off with the back of one hand, but was only marginally successful.

Odo had thrown the second guard against a piece of metal furniture, effectively knocking him out. "Are you all right, Major?" he asked.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak yet.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "You're supposed to be on -"

"I know," she interrupted, "but I thought you might need help. Let's get Bashir and leave quickly, Constable, before more of the Arbiters arrive." She pressed the transporter link, sighing with relief as the runabout materialized around here, then quickly beamed the other two aboard as well.

The ride back to DS9 was agonizing for Kira. Dubaiy was still unconscious, and Bashir was not sure whether he had been seriously injured.

"There is no sign of cranial trauma," he told her. "As far as I can tell, there is no reason for him to be unconscious."

"Drugs?"

"Perhaps. Some drugs do not show up on this portable scanner. I'll have to examine him on DS9 to be sure."

But at that moment the boy began to stir, and Kira, who was kneeling beside him, laid a hand on his forehead. With one finger she traced the racial markings on his face – the nose ridges of his Bajoran heritage, the bony circles around his eyes that revealed his Cardassian ancestry.

His eyelids flickered, then opened wide. Kira smiled tenderly. "You're going to be all right now," she whispered. "Everything will be just fine."

Dubaiy's eyes were glazed as he looked around. Suddenly he spotted Odo and his body stiffened. "No! No!" he wailed, obviously frightened. Kira scooped him up and held him as she had when he was a baby, his head tight against her chest so he could hear her heartbeat, her arms forming a circle of protection around him.

"Shh," she murmured soothingly in his ear. "Mama's here, Dubaiy. You're safe now. Just relax." She slowly rocked him back and forth, humming softly, and after a time the wailing stopped. His eyes gradually closed, and he fell asleep.

Kira sat very still, unwilling to move for fear of waking him.

Bashir and Odo, who had been watching surreptitiously, glanced at each other. "Now _that's_ something I never thought I'd see," Bashir commented quietly.

Kira and Dubaiy spent the next day in the infirmary, as Bashir insisted on running a multitude of tests.

"You're not trying to get data for a paper in some medical journal, are you?" Kira complained after the third full hour of tests.

"Well, this _is_ the first time I've ever examined a Bajoran-Cardassian hybrid," he admitted. "However," he added, seeing her enraged expression, "I do feel the tests are medically necessary.

"That hurts," piped Dubaiy's childish voice.

"I'm sorry, Dubaiy," the doctor apologized sincerely. "It won't take much longer."

"It had _better_ not," grumbled Kira.

Finally the tests were complete, and Kira left the infirmary with a smile on her face and Dubaiy's hand in hers. She felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Dubaiy was safe. Dubaiy was well. For once, she sincerely believed what she had told him, that everything would be fine now.

On impulse, she steered him toward the Promenade. "How would you like some tespalin?" she asked him. Tespalin was a frozen dessert that resembled Terran ice cream.

The boy's face lit up. "I love tespalin!" he exclaimed. "Do you really have some?"

"We certainly do. I'm sure Quark would be glad to make you some."

At first Kira was oblivious to the stares they were attracting as they walked through the busy Promenade. But then a young Bajoran boy ran beside them and pulled at Kira's other hand.

"Is he a _Cardassian_?" the boy asked, scorn evident in his voice.

"I don't think that's any of your business," Kira snapped. "Now run along."

The boy left, and Dubaiy gazed up at Kira with wide, innocent eyes. "He scared me, Mama. He called me a Car – a Cardassian. Is he going to hurt me like the others?"

She knelt to his level. "No, dear, he's not going to hurt you," she said softly.

Satisfied, he smiled again, and they continued.

A few minutes later she noticed the same Bajoran boy and several others pacing them as they walked. "He's Bajoran _and_Cardassian!" came a loud whisper from the crowd.

"That's disgusting!" someone else said.

Kira whirled, searching in the crowd for the offending speaker.

"Major Kira," a woman called out loud, "Where did you find him? Is he Bajoran or Cardassian?"

"Or some kind of freak?" came another anonymous voice, followed by a titter of laughter.

Kira stopped walking, anger growing so quickly inside her that she wasn't sure if she could control it. She turned a cold stare on the woman, who flinched and slowly moved away. The crowd began to disperse without Kira having to say a word.

But the encounter had triggered in Dubaiy all the painful experiences he had suffered at the hands of the Arbiters, and he began to cry. She tried to embrace him, but the touch of her hands seemed to frighten him even more, and he resisted frantically. "Stop! Let go! Don't hurt me, don't hurt me!"

They were beginning to attract attention again. Kira gathered all her strength and picked him up, ignoring his screaming, then carried him as quickly as possible to her quarters.

Dubaiy had fallen asleep, nestled in Kira's arms, when Sisko came to her quarters late that evening.

"Shhh," she warned him as he entered.

Sisko nodded, sitting down carefully, and spoke very quietly. "How is he, Major?"

"He's been through a lot – I don't know exactly what they did to him, but it was something very frightening. I had a difficult time calming him down enough to sleep."

"But he's all right, physically?"

Kira shrugged. "Bashir says he is. Minor cuts and bruises, nothing serious. The drugs are out of his system now." She shook her head. "It was his mind they tortured, not his body."

"I see." Sisko hesitated, unsure of how to continue. "Major, you do realize that he can't go back to Bajor, don't you?"

She turned to look at him, and the emptiness in her eyes told him that she realized all too well. "Yes, Commander."

"And he can't stay here."

She shook her head. "Of course not. He'd be just as vulnerable here as on Bajor." She looked down at the sleeping child, her face impassive. "He'll have to go away from here, where no one will care whether he's Bajoran or Cardassian or what. Where neither side can reach him."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking." He hesitated again. "Do you want to go with him?"

She looked up sharply. "I think you know me better than that, Commander. My place is here."

"That's what I thought you would say." He rose to his feet. "I've made arrangements for him to live at Starbase 74. There are children of many different races there, and it's far enough into Federation territory that there should be no Cardassian threat." He gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Will that be acceptable, Major?"

Kira appeared to study something on the wall. "Can I visit him?"

"If you want to."

She sighed deeply. "All right then."

"Good. The _Hawking_ leaves at 0600."

"I'll have him ready."

Sisko turned to leave, then stopped. "Kira, are you all right?"

She fervently wished that he would just go away, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and she knew he wouldn't do so if she betrayed her true emotional state. So she set her jaw, forced down the lump in her throat, and said as neutrally as possible, "Yes, Commander."

Sisko watched her for a moment, then quietly left.

She had tried to explain to him what was happening, but she knew that no three-year-old was capable of understanding. So she gave up and carried him to the playroom on the Hawking, where the children of crewmembers were noisily playing.

The ensign in charge of the younger children spoke to her softly. "Commander Sisko briefed me, Major. This is Counselor Wright. She'll be working with Dubaiy until we reach Starbase 74."

The dark woman gazed at Kira with understanding. "We'll take good care of him, Major. I'll send you a report as soon as we arrive. You can put him down whenever you're ready."

The ship was scheduled to leave in 11 minutes, so she didn't have much time. "Dubaiy, I want you to do what the people here tell you, all right?" She stroked his thick, black hair. "I won't be able to see you for awhile, but I'll come to visit as soon as I can."

She set him down near the shelves of brightly colored toys, then turned to leave. The boy suddenly realized what was happening. "Don't go!" he cried, clutching her legs. "Don't leave me again, Mama! Don't leave me!"

"I've got to go, Dubaiy," she said, fists at her sides. "I'm sorry. I have to go." She looked at the counselor, her eyes silently pleading.

Wright took the cue and picked up the child, who immediately began to kick and scream. Kira turned and left as quickly as she could. Once outside the playroom she paused, leaning against the bulkhead, breathing heavily. She could still hear him screaming.

As she began to walk away, she covered her ears. That helped some, but with a sudden stab of anguish she realized that she could never shut out – or forget – the memory of her son.


End file.
